Spring 2023

Bollywood Cinema

Listed in: Asian Languages and Civilizations, as ASLC-232  |  Film and Media Studies, as FAMS-319

Moodle site: Course

Faculty

Ajay Sinha (Section 01)

Description

(Offered as ASLC 232 and FAMS 319) India’s popular cinema is commonly known as Bollywood and includes films that are dismissed for predictable stories, fantastical visual spectacle, and distracting dance numbers. In this course, we will take the “excesses” of Indian films seriously, and examine how they critique our cultural assumptions. A selection of feature films from different times will lead us to a historically-grounded understanding of the material and technical aspects of Indian film. Scholarly essays will help us treat film as a “cultural production” of importance not only for India but also our understanding of world cinema. We will learn to formulate interdisciplinary approaches to film through collaborative projects and debates, practice visual and narrative analysis in class, write critical responses and position papers, and provoke each other to assess our own pleasures in this visual and narrative medium.

Spring semester. Visiting Professor Sinha.

How to handle overenrollment: Preference given to ASLC and FAMS majors

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: TBA

Offerings

2022-23: Offered in Spring 2023